So much has happened since my last post. Namely, I have become a mother to the beautiful Harlow Moon! Harlow is definitely the most incredible little pudding I have ever cooked up! She is a constant delight and my partner Chris and I are just so lucky to have her in our lives. It’s incredible how quickly the weeks go by, she is now one month old! I had my first outing away from her at the weekend, for pretty good reason too, for I was invited to meet one of my food heroes Yotam Ottolenghi and have five minutes one-on-one time with him! Imagine a 13 year old girl being told she can hang out with One Direction for five minutes. Well, that’s kind of how I felt. I totally fan-girled out but managed to keep my cool (kind of) and ask him a few questions along with the lovely food blogger Iron Chef Shellie.

We met Yotam prior to the beautiful Mediterranean Brunch that kicked off Good Food Month presented by Citi that was a collaboration between killer local chefs Karen Martini (Mr Wolf) and Shane Delia (Maha – one of my fave Melbourne restaurants) and of course Ottolenghi himself. In true Middle Eastern / Eastern Mediterranean spirit the dishes made by each chef were presented as shared platters for everyone to dig in and help themselves. The dishes were simple (yet complex in flavour), honest and rustic in presentation, the food I love most! To kick things off Shane presented creamy fresh ricotta with tahini and carob molasses, it reminded me of my favourite breakfast food ‘kaymak‘ I discovered in Turkey earlier this year which was a clotted buffalo cream served with honey. Devine! I also adored Shane’s braised beans with saffron, Lebanese sausage and sumac hobez – it wasn’t the prettiest of dishes but it was one of the tastiest with a strong sweet saffron flavour and crunchy slivers of bread. Saffron also featured in Karen’s gorgeous Spiced Saffron Scones with a Date and Lemon Preserve and Orange Blossoom Labneh which were as pretty as a picture. My favourite Ottolenghi dish was his Banana Bread with Tahini and Honeycomb – it had lovely salty and savoury notes and reminded me of something he would cook for his family tricked up a little. All of Ottolenghi’s dishes presented at the brunch could naturally be found in his new book Plenty More, an extension of his phenomenally successful vegetarian cookbook Plenty.

Here’s what Ottolenghi have to say when I got to spend five minutes with him…

Dani: You’ve been in Australia for a little bit now, you’ve been non stop, have you had a chance to actually relax and discover any cool hot spots?

Yotam: Yesterday I went to a few nice places: I went to Supernormal, and had a beautiful… what did I have there that really blew me away?.. they had pork rolls, really really really delicious and then I went to a cute place called Nora, it’s completely new, it’s just opened, and they have this really funky tart. I had a pumpkin tart with a black crust, they use charcoal, like coconut charcoal in their crust, and you need to go, they are really lovely, they mill their own flour in the back, that was a little find. And where else, I went to Pei Modern last night, it’s not a find, but I had a great food, it was really really delicious, there was asparagus with smoked eggs, oh it was to die for.

Dani: Heston’s bringing Fat Duck to Melbourne, would you follow in his footsteps and bring Ottolenghi or Nopi to Melbourne or Sydney?

Yotam: I don’t know, maybe. It’s not very likely, it might happen. I’ve changed my tune over the last week. I started off by saying no way it’s never going to happen and now day 6 or 7, I’m thinking maybe it’s quite nice here, so we’ll see. So far I’ve been saying no, it’s too difficult, it’s too complicated, it’s not for me.Dani: But there’s a maybe there, so we will win you over in a bit.Yotam: At the moment, I’m slightly less extreme no, but we are still not sure about it.

Dani: Millions of people look up to you, have your cookbooks and are inspired by you, is there is a chef or cook that you admire and look up to?

Yotam: There’s a lot, more like cooks like my father, my mum are great cooks, and people when I travel, home cooks, and Sami my business partner, I think he’s a genius. We co-wrote books together, and he’s been a huge inspiration for me. He throws a meal like nobody else does, he cooks much better than I do.

Dani: Australians love meat and you’re known as the king of vegetables. A lot of men especially don’t consider a meal completely without a protein or a meat. Do you have any words of wisdom to try and change this attitude in Australia?

Yotam: I don’t like to try and change attitudes, that’s not my mission. I like to present the food as it is, and if people choose to adopt it…

Dani: Not everyone can cook like you! Is there any tips that you can give people?Yotam: Not everybody can cook like me, but they can cook really well, if they are given good ideas with what to do with vegetables. I think we are limited in our imagination, but actually once you kind of open yourself up to the world, there’s tonnes of stuff you can do, so I really think that even the butch Australian man can be kind of swayed a little bit if you present them vegetables.Dani: What’s the sexiest vegetable to you?Yotam: At the moment, because tomorrow I’ll have a different answer; cauliflower.

Shellie: What do you think the key to your success has been? Is there any one person or a certain action?Yotam: I think I’ve been very lucky to have talent people around me. Although ‘Ottolenghi ‘is famous, I am the face, there is a lot of creative stuff that is not mine, Sami is one, Scully who is the head chef, who is actually here in the kitchen, he is amazing, we are co-writing a book together, he is actually from Sydney, he is Australian, and our next book will be together. I also have an friend called Helen, she’s an amazing baker, she also produces a lot of our recipes, so its, a collaboration.

Shellie: Who was your greatest inspiration when it came to food?Yotam: I have been inspired a lot by the cooks of California; Alice Waters, Debra Madison; all these people who are vegetable focused but they also have this integrity with the vegetable, unlike some French cooks, you know that kind of cook the shit out out of their food. Sorry, excuse my language! Those are the people that inspire me.Shellie: What would your ultimate feast involve?Yotam: My ultimate feast… would involve lots and lots of things, I like a lot on the table like a huge mezze selection, that would be a feast. not one thing that’s for sure, or two, or three.

Getting our interview on with Yotam Ottolenghi

Thanks to Good Food Month, Haystac and Citi for inviting me to interview Ottolenghi.

It’s been an age since my last post. My blog has been neglected throughout winter not dissimilar to my weed-riddled garden. You see, whilst I have been busy ignoring my blog I have been diligently nurturing a new life that’s been growing inside of me for the past almost 9 months! As you can well imagine I have hit the aptly termed ‘nesting’ phase. Hence now on the second day of September it’s time for a much needed spring clean that not only includes reorganising tea towel drawers, vacuuming under the bed and sorting piles of magazines into coherent order but also giving my blog a tidy up in the same rough and tumble way a grandma might spit on a tissue and clean the grot of a child’s face.

So in my quick-fix blog make over I shall share with you all that has happened in my food world this year.

I have been back in front of the camera but not in a selfy kind of way. I’m sure if I could shoot my own cooking videos I would have but I have been lucky enough to work with some awesome people to spread my love of cooking and creating recipes a little further. I have been working with Coles Supermarkets for over a year now as a contributor to their website and today in my frenzied ‘Must-Organise-Everything-In-My-Life’ state of mind I have categorized all the videos to create a drop-down menu under the video section of my blog. Don’t act like you’re not impressed. I’m sure I will sleep much better tonight in my pillow fortress that I’ve created around my bump knowing that the video section of my blog is far more accessible and the functionality has increased. If you have a spare few minutes do check out the range of short videos and recipes I’ve created for Coles, it’s quite the collection!

To give you a taste, here’s a new video on how to make Indian Naan Bread…

Excitingly I have also landed my first ever television hosting role on new cooking show Weekend Feast! I feel super smitten that I get to share some of my favourite recipes on national television and have to pinch myself to ensure that it’s really happening. I grew up playing make believe and pretending I was the host of my own cooking show when I was helping my mum in the kitchen, so it’s pretty unreal for me to be actually living my childhood dream you might say! If you haven’t seen it yet you can catch up on Ten Play or watch it on Saturdays at 2pm or Sundays repeat episode at 11am.

On the set of Weekend Feast!

And of course becoming a mumma is perhaps the biggest news of all. Although not really food related. Except for the discovery that cravings is really just an excuse for women to eat whatever they damn well please at anytime of the day or night. As this is how I live my life normally I haven’t experienced any cravings! It’s very exciting times ahead and I look forward to sharing the experience with you. If you haven’t already please add me on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram which are updated regularly unlike my poor little blog. Until next time…Promise it won’t be as long, I can’t stand the weeds! x

PS: If the recent sunny weather hasn’t made you feel better about life then here’s a recipe that will get you excited about spring lamb anyway. I made this recipe on episode 1 of Weekend Feast, (spring) Lamb Shank Rendang Curry…Enjoy x

Getting in the mood for spring lamb!

Spring Lamb Shank Rendang Curry

Serves: 5

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours

Ingredients

2 tablespoons cumin seeds

2 tablespoons coriander seeds

1 tablespoon fennel seed

1 teaspoon black peppercorns

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 teaspoons salt flakes

200g red shallots, diced

5cm knob ginger, peeled, roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves

2 stalks lemongrass, peeled, bottom 1/3rd chopped

3 long red chillies, seeds removed optional

4 tablespoons coconut or vegetable oil

2kgs lamb shanks

800mls coconut milk

1.5 litres coconut water or water

1 tablespoon palm sugar (optional)

1 cup desiccated coconut

Fish sauce, to season

2 kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced

Fried shallots, to garnish

Coriander leaves, to garnish

1 lime, quartered, to serve

How to make it

To make spice powder, place cumin, coriander, fennel seeds and black peppercorns in small heavy based frypan over low heat and toast for about 5 minutes, swirling pan occasionally, until spices are aromatic. Remove from heat and grind in mortar and pestle, spice grinder or high powered blender until a fine powder forms. Stir in ground turmeric and salt.

Place shallots, ginger, garlic, lemongrass and chillies in a high powdered blender or food processor, process until a paste forms. Stir in spice mix.

Using a large stockpot over medium-high heat, add half the amount of oil, when hot, add half the amount of lamb shanks and brown on all sides, remove from pan. Repeat with remaining lamb shanks, set aside.

Add remaining oil to the pan, reduce heat to medium – low, fry off curry paste for 3 minutes, stirring to ensure paste does not get stuck to pan. Add coconut milk and water, stir well to combine. Add lamb shanks back to the pan, liquid should cover lamb shanks, if not add more water until shanks are fully submerged.

Bring liquid to the boil then reduce to a low simmer and cook for 3 – 4 hours, or until meat is tender and falling off the bone. Rendang is a dry curry so liquid should reduce and curry become thick toward the end of the cooking process, however if it appears to be reducing too quickly in the first few hours, keep topping up with water so that the lamb shanks cook through properly and become tender.

In the last 30 minutes of cooking, add desiccated coconut to a small frypan over low heat and toast until golden brown. Then add this into the curry to thicken up.

Taste and season with fish sauce. Serve curry with steamed rice, garnish with kaffir lime leaves, fried shallots, coriander and a wedge of lemon.

Note:

If you do not have the time or equipment to ground the spices yourself, replace whole seeds with already ground spices in the same quantities

If you prefer a curry with less heat, remove seeds from chillies, if you prefer a curry with more heat, leave the seeds in or add more chillies to the recipe.

Sri Lanka holds a very special place in my heart. I fell in love there, not only with the food, the people and the place but also with my boyfriend of 7 years (yes 7 years, put a ring on it already would ya?!) So I thought it only appropriate that this Valentines Day I make a Sri Lankan Love Cake. This is a legitimate cake, I’m not making it up. It’s made in Sri Lanka on special occasions like birthdays and family celebrations, but I think its a perfect cake to just bake, keep in a sealed container and enjoy with a cup of tea when friends pop around as it keeps quite well.

The cake itself tastes more like an Eastern Mediterranean / Middle Eastern cake than Sri Lankan as its contains honey, rose water and spices like cinnamon, nutmeg as well as citrus zest and ground cashew. In fact the ingredients are similar to baklava! I’m sure the recipe was passed on and adapted when the Dutch or Portuguese colonised Sri Lanka, but anywho it’s a lovely cake and if you’re feeling extra indulgent this Valentines Day serve with a dollop of double cream or ice cream. Enjoy!

Sri Lankan LOVE Cake!

Sri Lankan Love Cake

What Do You Need?

200g unsalted butter, diced

1 cup caster sugar

10 egg yolks

1 cup semolina

150g cashews, ground / blitzed in a food processor to a fine powder

1 tablespoon honey

2 teaspoons rose water

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ginger, cardamon and nutmeg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract paste

1 orange, zest only

1 lemon, zest only

100g crystalized pineapple pieces, finely diced (you can get these in the dried fruit section of your supermarket)

4 egg whites

Icing sugar, to serve

1 cup of LOVE (Sorry, I had to!)

How to make it…

1. Preheat fan-forced oven to 150 degrees. Place butter and sugar into an electric mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment and cream butter and sugar on a medium speed till soft and fluffy, this might take around 3 minutes.

2. Add egg yolks one at a time, don’t add the next egg yolk until the previous yolk is fully incorporated.

3. Turn down mixer speed to low, add semolina and ground cashews, a little at a time until mixture is fully incorporated.

5. Whisk egg whites until firm peaks form, you can do this by hand or use a clean bowl and a balloon whisk attachment to beat egg whites. Fold this into the batter mixture.

6. Pour into prepared baking tin – I used a love heart tin I found at an op-shop but you can use a regular 22 – 25cm cake tin, lined with baking paper. Bake at 150 degrees for about 45 minutes, or until golden. Remove from oven, allow to cool for 5 minutes before cooling on a cake rake. Sieve a little icing sugar over the top of the cake to serve. Keep cake in sealed container, it will become more moist over time. This cake should keep for at least one week.

Let’s be honest, who doesn’t like toast? You’d have to mad not to love it, or at least a version of it. From good old vegemite on toast for breakfast, to tomato and basil sourdough bruschetta for lunch and then a wickedly decadent brioche French toast with maple syrup and whipped butter for dessert! There is a bread and topping combination to please every palate at any time of day.

A classic item on any Western-style Yum Cha menu around the World is prawn toast, white bread spread with a minced prawn paste and fried – simple and delicious. Here is my take on a classic dish, I would recommend serving as part of a shared banquet with some homemade dumplings or as a snack with a cold beer. Enjoy!

A classic, Sesame & Lime Prawn Toast!

Sesame & Lime Prawn Toasts

Serves: 10 – 20 as part of a shared banquet or as a canapé

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 20 minutes

What You Need….

500g raw prawns, tail removed

1 teaspoon fresh minced garlic

1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1 teaspoon light soy sauce

1 teaspoon shao xing rice wine

1 tablespoon lime zest (from about 2 limes)

½ cup white sesame seeds

10 slices white toast bread, a day old if possible

1 litre vegetable oil, for deep frying

Dipping Sauce:

2 tablespoons plum sauce

Juice of 2 limes

How to make it…

Place prawns, ginger, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, rice wine and 1 ½ tablespoons of lime zest into a small food processor or blender, blend until a smooth paste forms.

Cut crusts off bread, take a generous amount of prawn mixture and slather all over the pieces of bread taking the mixture all the way to the edge, the mixture should be about 1cm thick.

Carefully cut the bread diagonally in half and in half again to make four small triangles.

Place sesame seeds on a small plate, take one triangle and place the prawn mixture face down to achieve an even coating of sesame seeds. Set aside, repeat with remaining triangles.

Place vegetable oil in wok or large saucepan and heat oil to about 170 degrees, don’t heat the oil too much as the bread will colour too quickly and the prawn mixture won’t cook. Working in batches place 4 – 6 triangles in the oil to cook at a time, ensuring the prawn mixture side goes in first. After a few minutes flip the triangles and cook the bread for a further minute or until golden. Place on absorbent paper towel, repeat with remaining triangles.

To make dipping sauce, combine plum sauce and lime juice and mix well.

As a child I was always fascinated by Potato “Birds Nest” Baskets that you could order at the local Chinese restaurant to serve your stir-fry in. It was my favourite thing to order growing up as it just seemed magical that you could actually eat the basket! What makes these baskets so tasty is clearly the fact they are made out of deep fried shredded potato, so essentially it’s a basket made out of fries! Delish. But also because there are different textures, not only is there crunchy fried mouthfuls but also soggy, chewy bits once the stir-fry sauce has soaked into the potato. Trust me on this, if you haven’t had one of these baskets you need to try it, at least once!

My Chinese Potato “Birds Nest” Basket

Making the baskets yourself is surprisingly easy, you just need a bit of equipment like a wok and two strainers to start with. The potato basket would make a great centre piece for your Chinese New Year banquet or you could make smaller individual baskets to bring a bit of Chinese retro “Elizabeth Chong” style chic to your next dinner party. I would recommend serving them with quite a saucy stir-fry, I’ve created a recipe for Chicken, Cashew Nut & Snow Pea Stir Fry that goes really well, and is also a great one for kids as its not spicy.

Here is a video I’ve made with Coles Online to show you the process of how to make your own Chinese Potato Birds Nest Baskets, as well as my recipe for you below. Enjoy. x

Chinese Potato Birds Nest Basket

Serves: 4

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

What You Will Need….

2 – 3 medium sized potatoes, peeled

2 tablespoons plain flour or corn flour

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 litres of vegetable oil, for deep frying

Equipment:

A wok

Two metal strainers, one slightly smaller than the other

A mandoline (optional but preferable)

Paper towel

How You Make It…

Slice potatoes extremely thin, about 2mm thick and then shred into fine straws about 2mm thick, alternatively using a mandoline with a julienne attachement. Place potato into a large bowl or sieve, add cold water and rinse potatoes well until the water runs clear to remove excess starch. This will help the potatoes to become crispy.

Drain potatoes well and squeeze out excess water then use paper towel to remove any moisture.

Add vegetable oil to a wok and heat on high, allow temperature to reach around 170 degrees or if you add a wooden chopstick the oil will start to bubble in about 5 seconds.

Add plain or corn flour to the potatoes and toss well to combine.

Dip larger strainer into the oil, place over saucepan then add potato evenly around the sides and base of the strainer to create a birds nest, about 1cm thick. Dip the smaller strainer in oil and place on top.

When oil is ready, add strainers and fry until potatoes are golden and crispy, this might take between 5 – 10 minutes. When basket is nearly ready to remove from oil, gently remove the top strainer, or whatever strainer comes off easily, use a tip of a knife if any potato is stuck in the strainer, just be gentle so the nest doesn’t break. Remove nest and place on paper towel, remove other strainer, allow to cool slightly. Nest is now ready to use to serve your favourite saucy stir fry in.

Tips:

Use a wok with a flat surface if possible as it is safer when deep frying

A mandoline is a great investment in the kitchen, it saves so much time and you can use it to quickly slice up so many different vegetables like carrots, cucumber and onion

If you are making a Chinese banquet, I would recommend making two – three baskets

You might not know this about me but I am one-sixteenth Chinese. Barely enough to celebrate the impending Chinese New Year or claim Chinese heritage right? This might be true, but my family has an interesting Australian-Chinese history, my Great Great Grandfather was one of the first Chinese settlers during the Gold Rush Era in the 1850’s, he unsuccessfully tried to ‘Anglicise’ his surname from Leu Sen to Lew Shing (“Smith” wasn’t appropriate?), married an Irish woman during the “White Australia” period and assimilated to Australian culture as best as he could, even though he still wore his hair in a plated queue, which is similar to a plaited rats tail so perhaps he was fashion forward waaaaay before his time?

A Chinese man that is not my Great Great Grandfather but rocks a plaited queue

He also had three wishes based on Confucian principles when he arrived in Australia; to repay his village for the fare to Australia, to send money home and to one day return to his Motherland and show allegiance to his family. What a gem! I’m sure he worked ridiculously hard to achieve the first two things, but when he died in 1904, it seemed his last wish was not to come true. Strangely however in 1918 his body was exhumed from the Melbourne General Cemetery and taken back to his village in China. What the!? I don’t know how or why this happened but I’m sure Great Great Grandfather was stoked. I also found out recently that he started a restaurant / lolly shop on Russell Street in the Melbourne CBD, which is where China Town is today, I have no idea what kind of restaurant or lolly shop but I like to think he was celebrating his cultural heritage and cooking up mean Chinese food! And I like to think that somehow the ability to cook mean Chinese food has been passed down in my genes, even if it is only one-sixteenth of them!

Food plays such an important role in culture and heritage, my family and I still celebrate the pioneering spirit of our Chinese ancestors, but mainly through eating Yum Cha and cooking Chinese dishes, especially at this time of year leading up to Chinese New Year on the 31st January. This week I will be celebrating Chinese New Year by sharing some Chinese inspired dishes with you, some of these recipes have been inspired from your average suburban Chinese restaurant, others from more exotic travels to Asia.

This first recipe is perfect for a hot summer night, its refreshing and uses juicy watermelon and fresh fragrant herbs. I would recommend serving with an icy cold lemongrass and kaffir lime cocktail! Enjoy

My gastronomic experiences in Tasmania prior to this summer was limited to going on Year 10 school camp and having an all-you-can-eat competition at a Pizza Hut buffet. I believe I won, which makes this whole scenario even more disturbing for Tasmania is home to the purest air, water and soil in the world. It is the breeding ground for some of the world’s best food, like plump, salty St Helens oysters, pungent, fudgy Bruny Island cheese and homemade seafood pies with delicate, buttery pastry. Evidently my tastebuds have slightly matured since my first trip to Tassie and thankfully Pizza Hut buffets closed down years ago, it seems we have all moved on in the right direction.

This summer my friends and I thought we would go against the grain, well mainly against the throngs of families heading North to warmer climates, and pack up our cars with all our camping gear and explore Tassie to see where the wind took us (and yes it is a very windy place indeed!) We had no real plans except that we knew we wanted to eat, drink and be merry – which we succeeded in – but I did learn a few things along the way, so I thought I’d share my DO’s and DON’TS with you to help you on your way to your own camping trip of Tasmania (which I strongly advise you DO!)….

On the road to Tassie….

DON’T travel on the Spirit of Tasmania during the day. Yes it’s a little bit cheaper on surface level, but its incredibly boring and you may find yourself spending your ‘saved’ dollars and cents in the gaming lounge, drinking Moo Brew or having to book a nights accommodation in Devonport so that you can get back on the ferry in the morning on time! Save yourself your sanity and travel at night.

DON’T expect to find a campsite (or many friendly campers) anywhere in the Bay of Fires in the peak holiday period from Christmas – New Years. We found ourselves basically heckled out of over populated camping spots by people who may as well have been carrying pitchforks and torches! We found it really difficult to find anywhere to camp along this long stretch of coast at this time so aim for in-land national parks or just avoid the area at that time of year. You can go in the ballot for camping in Freycinet National Park if you plan well ahead.

DO travel with a chef / really good campfire cook. (No, I’m not talking about me!) I was very fortunate to travel with one of the best cooks I know who took control of campfire cooking. I realise not everyone is going to be able to travel with someone who has the ability to turn a few swedes, carrots and lump of meat into the greatest tasting stew ever but a few camp cooking tips:

DO bring a cast iron camp oven, you know one of those big pots with a fitted lid? DON’T ever wash it with detergent or put canned tomatoes in it.

DON’T over complicate your stew, cut everything big and chunky, add plenty of garlic, and save some of that beer or wine that you’re drinking and a good glug of it to your stew. Now you’re cooking!

DO cook on fire, it makes everything taste better.

Cooking on fire makes meat taste like how it should!

DO stock up on dense firewood if you can before heading to remote campsites, foraging from the forest area is not allowed and most petrol stations do sell packs of firewood.

DO buy local produce. There are loads of side of road stalls spruiking local seafood, berries, vegies and meat. Stop at these stalls! Also, make pit stops in wineries and breweries to pick up your daily tipple!

What a winning combination!

DO take an oyster shucking knife with you. Buying live oysters are cheaper (around $9 a dozen) and fresher. If you don’t know how to shuck an oyster ask the person who sells them to you or YouTube it. Go on have a go, but just don’t tip out the ‘mermaids tears’ (salty water) or stab the oyster. PS: St Helens pacific oysters were my favourite, surprisingly actually as they are so big!

DON’T expect it to be warm in summer. This means layer people! DO pack warm clothing, heaps of layers, boots and wet weather jacket (ok this is starting to sound like a school camp list….)

DON’T become all shy if you run into Matthew Evans (The Gourmet Farmer) in Cygnet and then miss out on the opportunity to talk to him about local produce and farming – like I did! IDIOT!!

DO visit Bruny Island! This was my favourite place that we visited, its so remote and untouched, pristine waters, great local produce (Bruny Island Cheese is the best in Australia!), a cute hotel serving up local seafood and fantastic walks and camping in Cloudy Bay!

Our campsite at Cloudy Bay on Bruny Island. Not too bad…!

DO pit stop in Hobart and fork out to get a hotel room in the city for a few nights, lets face it you will probably feel like a hot shower and decent matress by this stage and Hobart has so much to offer. DO visit MONA (its incredible) and try and swing it whilst the Taste of Tasmania festival is on.

DON’T miss out on going to Wine Glass Bay like we did. We drove past it when we were frantically searching for a campsite and didn’t get to see the ‘postcard perfect’ bay. : (

DO make wrong turns. Half the fun of going on a road trip is discovering places you didn’t know existed. Following a map all the time is tedious!

Found this waterhole at Douglas Aspley National Park!

DO visit Tasmania! It really is the most naturally beautiful places in Australia, I can not wait to go back!!

In the words of Slim Shady, I’m Back. I have had quite a long blog hiatus, so firstly I must apologise for my lack of updates in the past few months! As usual the lead up to Christmas is such a busy time and then finally you let go of the year, sink into holiday mode and the beauty of long summer nights. But now I’m back!

There’s nothing more I enjoy than having friends and family over for an al fresco dinner in summer, getting the barbie all fired up and throwing together some simple sides. I pulled some new potatoes up recently so I’ve over indulged eating German style potato salad (mayo and pickle juice with gherkin and red onion!) for the past month, its been a treat! Plus I have some incredibly peppery rocket growing in my garden, throw that together with some freshly plucked cherry tomatoes, crunchy cucumber and first press olive oil and you are in business my friend. That’s the thing about summer, you want things to be simple and quick to prepare. It’s too hot to slave away over a stove top!

As a segway recipe into the new year, to celebrate seasonal summer fruit and to make something that is going to cool you down in this ridiculously hot heat we are experiencing (yes to 25 – 33 degrees, no to 35 – 45!) I’ve put together a recipe video to make a simple strawberry sorbet. Sorbet is such a delicious treat and it really is very easy to make but you will find that strawberry sorbet is the easiest! There is no need to cook the fruit first, its all just a matter of blending and churning – or freezing then blitzing in a blender. And best of all it’s strawberry season right now. Did I tell you I grew a strawberry? Yes a solitary strawberry! I felt like a proud mum and it tasted so sweet, but I think I’m going to have to plant a few more strawberry plants next year if I’m going to make homegrown sorbet. Luckily there are loads of sweet local strawberries about at the moment and at a very reasonable price. You could even make a day of it by going to a strawberry farm where you can pick your own fruit, go home and make sorbet as well as preserve some by making jam for the winter months, how lovely!

The first and only strawberry I’ve grown!

I’ve really got loads of things to catch you up on, mainly my incredible camping trip to Tasmania over new year, I’m salivating thinking about all that fresh seafood down there, but I’ll save that for next time! Find my videos and recipes below. Enjoy x

Oh and if you are feeling a little bit fancy and it isn’t a 40 degree day you could serve your sorbet (or summer fruit salad) in a homemade frozen berry ice bowls, they do make for quite a nice conversation starter and your guests will be utterly impressed!!

Simple Strawberry Sorbet

Makes approx 700ml

What do you need?

500g strawberries, hulled

100g caster sugar

50g powdered glucose (you can find this at the chemist or health food section of your supermarket!)

If you don’t have an ice cream machine add 1/2 an egg white (this helps achieve a creamy consistency)

How do you make it?

Place strawberries, sugar and powdered glucose in a blender or small food processor, blend until a puree forms.

Strain mixture using a fine sieve if you would prefer a smooth sorbet. (This is optional if you would like a little bit of texture from the strawberry seeds but just keep dental floss handy!)

Churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturers instructions until sorbet is thickened, then place in a container and freeze till firm in the freezer then serve. Alternatively DO NOT STRESS IF YOU DON’T HAVE AN ICE CREAM MACHINE just add ½ an egg white in step 1, pour mixture into a small baking tray, place in a freezer, when firm blend in a small food processor or blender. Serve or keep frozen in freezer.

Tip:

Strawberries do not need to be cooked to bring out their flavour, but if you were making this with other berries, like raspberries, the puree would need to be heated before being churned also a little water would need to be added.

A good blender is needed for this recipe, if it doesn’t puree add a very small amount of water.

Eggwhite is only to be added if you do not have access to an ice cream machine as it does dull the strawberry flavour a little.

I’ve already written about the Raw Food Revolution in a previous blog post and it looks like it’s here to stay! I think that can only be a good thing, especially for those who don’t like to cook. Think about it, raw food involves no cooking so for those who don’t have time to cook or don’t like cooking, you don’t have to. For those who do like cooking, if you make this recipe you’ll totally be on trend. Everybody wins! Enjoy this recipe as part of a shared feast. This pesto recipe is also a winner with grilled seafood and steak! Yummo. x

Raw Zucchini ‘Noodles‘ & Thai Inspired Coriander Pesto

Serves 6

Prep Time: 20 minutes

What’s in it?

4 medium sized zucchinis, ends trimmed

2 cups of coriander (stalks and leaves), washed, roughly chopped

½ cup raw macadamia nuts, plus a few for garnish (or roasted if that’s what is stocked nationally)

1 tablespoon fresh lemongrass, finely diced

½ long red chilli, deseeded, diced

1 fresh kaffir lime leaf, finely sliced (or bottled)

¼ cup coconut oil, melted / liquidfied*(1/4 cup when oil is melted)

1 teaspoon diced garlic

1 lime, juice only

100g cherry tomatoes

How to make it:

To make the zucchini noodles use a mandolin with a juiellenne attachment and slice into 5mm thick noodles, alternatively, cut zucchinis into 5mm wide strips and juillenne into thin strips.** Set aside in mixing bowl. ***

To make coriander pesto place coriander, macadamia nuts, lemongrass, chilli, kaffir lime leaf, coconut oil and garlic, into a small mixer or blender, and blend until a smooth consistency is achieved. Taste and season with a little sea salt and about a teaspoon of lime juice

When ready to serve, add 4 tablespoons of pesto to the zucchini and mix well. Add tomatoes and garnish with extra chopped macadamia. Serve as part of a shared picnic.

* To liquefy coconut oil place in microwave for 1 minute or heat on stove

** You can also use a peeler to make zucchini ribbons instead of noodles

** You can also blanch zucchini noodles in boiling water for 1 – 2 minutes and drain well if preferred

In my neck of the woods the weather is having some strange fit and is convulsing every five minutes between torrential rain and glittering sunshine. I believe that actually is the definition of spring, in Melbourne at least, but I have a much more romanticised version of the winter to summer segway season in mind that involves cute wicker picnic baskets and red gingham table cloths! It’s still a bit soggy in my backyard for that kind of carry on but how things are growing in my garden! It’s tremendously satisfying watching little pots of soil spring to life. My mint that died a sad death from lack of water when I went overseas earlier this year is now regenerating and seeds that I recently planted are turning into baby bok choys and snow peas. I feel like a proud parent watching them all grow up so quickly! I never thought of myself as having a green thumb, but the more I get into the garden the more I get out of it.

This recipe is one to help herald in the picnic season. If you are not from Melbourne, then picnic season is most likely already on your doorstep! I recently made this salad for my brothers 21st, I doubled the recipe, it was MASSIVE and I served it in a big glass punch bowl. It looked so pretty with all the layers. But its a great one to take to a BBQ, a family function or to serve in little individual jars to take to a picnic. It’s a really lovely fresh salad, and quite hearty as well with all that roast chook in there.

Here’s a little video of me cooking this recipe in my kitchen at home put together by Coles to show you how to make it. I hope that you like it!

Quinoa Tabouli & Roast Chicken Layered Salad

Serves 6

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Hummus:

400g can chickpeas, drained

4 tablespoons plain greek or natural yoghurt

2 tablespoons unhulled tahini

1 teaspoon roughly diced garlic

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 teaspoon sea salt flakes

Tabouli:

½ cup white quinoa grains, cooked according to packet instructions

6 medium sized tomatoes (ripe and firm), finely diced

1 cup finely diced mint (use 1 bunch)

½ cup finely diced parsley

1 small cucumber, finely diced

½ red onion, finely diced

2 teaspoon cumin seeds, crushed

¼ cup olive oil

1 lemon, juice only

½ teaspoon sea salt flakes

200g Danish fetta

1 Coles free range family roast chicken, meat shredded

Method:

To make hummus, place chickpeas, yoghurt, tahini, garlic, lemon juice in a small food processor, blend until smooth, taste and season with salt to your taste

To make tabouli, place quinoa, tomatoes, mint, parsley, cucumber, tomato and red onion in a large mixing bowl

In a small mixing bowl place cumin seeds, olive oil, lemon juice and salt, whisk until combined. Add to tabouli and toss well to combine

To make individual layered salad use a small jar or plastic containers, add a layer of tabouli, top with crumbled fetta, a layer of chicken, a few tablespoons of hummus and repeat until container is full. Keep refrigerated. Serve on its own or with some pita bread to make wraps.